Gists in Nigeria

The last biggest news to come out of Abia state, and indeed Nigeria, was the appeal court verdict in Abia state. It is no more news that governor Okezie has been told to leave the seat of power in Abia state. According to the higher court, after all legal jargons, Alex Otti of APGA should be sworn in immediately.

I do not really know how I feel. The whole world knows I have always supported Alex. But with the few months Okezie has been in power, he has done okay. I must confess I was beginning to have a soft spot for him. That, however, does not remove the fact Alex Otti won that election, to be candid.

I think Alex would do better than Okezie. He is more experienced, and has a reputation to protect. Okezie is also good, and people do not dislike him. The jubilation in Abia after the verdict was not because they never liked him. Abia's major problem is the person that brought him to power. The very much hated TA Orji, who failed as a governor, is the problem Okezie had, and still has. People cannot forget in a hurry what transpired during elections. They want the state to be free from that man. They cannot wait for that man to be probed. And who else would probe him, if not Otti?

If Okezie, as expected, heads to the supreme court, then we would be in for another wait. I want Alex to take over. But whatever happens, it is a win-win situation. Okezie is also good. Abia has never had it this good. But then, the people spoke, and we all know what they said.

I doff my heart for Okezie. If, eventually, he does not make it, then he should not be so disappointed. He has done his people, Ngwaland, proud, and posterity would judge him well, unlike his predecessor, who cannot walk the streets of Abia happily. For Otti, he already knows where he is coming from. Expectation is so high
, so he would have to hit the ground running. With him, Abia is secure.

I remain proud to be from Abia state.

Pro-Biafra protesters were out in their numbers on Monday. The crowd was unimaginable, but the event was commendably violent-free.

“It is a fact that most of d pirates I see selling
pirated CDs and DVDs are
Igbo,” he unbelievably said. “1 even threatened
me after I seized my film
from him. Why?” he asked. And with this, all my
respect for Kunle Afolayan
went off the window. How could someone who
claims to be so educated mutter
such utter nonsense, in an already heated
situation?
I do not even want to go into the foul-mouthed
tirade of Oba of Lagos,
Rilwan Akiolu. He appears to me as uncivilized
and brash, so I won’t even
blame him. All he has done is do more harm to
APC’s chances in Lagos. But
Kunle Afolayan? What was he thinking? Was he
drunk? High on some cheap
stuff? I can never tell.
Yes, he probably was bitter over what pirates had
done to his business. But
a man of his standard should have thought
better. I am disappointed. Now
let me let him know something. In Abia state, a
Yoruba man tried to sell a
pirated copy of Chinua Achebe’s ‘There Was A
Country’ to me. Let me also
shock him by telling him about a certain Yoruba
man who sells pirated
Nollywood movies at Narayi, Kaduna. Does he
also know a lot of Yoruba men
move round the streets of Aba selling what of
course should be ‘concoted’
herbal drugs? But nobody ever blamed the
Yoruba tribe, even if people did
not like the issues at hand.
Let me use this opportunity to advise people to
stop this insult on Igbos.
During the presidential election, we endured lots
of embarrassment. We were
insulted and told to “go and die”. Now, a certain
Oba has told us to perish
in a lagoon. Now, brother Kunle has accused us
of piracy. The Igbo tribe is
a great one, proud of itself and never would wish
it were from another
place. I, for one, am proud of my Igbo roots. I can
never imagine being
from any other tribe.
Igbos respect other tribes. You can never see an
Igbo man insult an Hausa
man in the east. It is not possible. No Igbo man
would arrogantly dismiss a
Yoruba man in the east. If anything, they accord
those tribes all respect
they deserve. So why this?
The time for us to be serious is now. We can
never succeed in this war
against tribal differences like this. I cannot wait
to see a Nigeria
devoid of tribal differences. I cannot.

 Gen Muhammadu OKechukwu Buhari has won
the presidential election at umpteenth time of
asking. I can do nothing but congratulate him
and wish him all the best. He has proved to be a
determined fighter.
I also want to commend president Goodluck
Jonathan, a fine gentleman, someone you cannot
but love. This is not the end for him. Politically,
he still remains young. Who knows, he could
come back to Aso rock one day. I wish him all
the best.
I hope Buhari's victory would bring the change
we have all been looking for. That is no more
than Nigerians deserve. Let this country thrive.
I want to congratulate people like Babatunde
Fashola and Rochas Okorocha who have shown
that APC could really work, as they have shown
in Lagos and Imo respectively. This victory is for
them. I also want to blame those PDP
governors; they know themselves and people
know who I have in mind; who have failed
themselves, their various states and its people.
This loss is in no small measure their faults.
As we enter a new dispensation, let us now
know peace, joy and unity. Ethnic and religious
differences should be a thing of the past, as we
move towards creating a new Nigeria.
Thank you

Veteran actress Chinyere Wilfred is sure showing the comic side of her. She has some hilarious location pics here.

As a friend would say, "odiegwu really really"

On Saturday, I will love something to happen. I
may be confused on who to
vote for on the presidential election, but there is
one reason I am
optimistic. Somebody would get disgraced, and
he is TA Orji. There is
nothing else he deserves than that. He has failed
Abia state and himself.
This is a man who has spent eight years as a
governor, and has nothing to
show for it. This is a man who has all at his beck
and call to succeed, and
he failed to utilize it. This is a man who is yet to
understand the true
meaning of democracy. He is the one to lose.
What a way to end his political career. He has
decided to deride himself
for the last time and contest for a senatorial seat.
God forbid that such
people represent us. Abia is moving forward and
no more backwards. We shall
put hands together and vote him out, while he
waits for EFCC. Justice would
be done.
For eight years, our roads got worse. For eight
years, we suffered
lethargic and inconsistent payment of salaries,
gratuities and pensions.
For eight years, we suffered unemployment. We
suffered intimidation and 13th
century administration. We endured all these,
even as corrupt media houses
sang the praise of a failed leader who spends
handsomely to get praised.
We Abians, home and abroad, would make a huge
statement on this election.
We will start on Saturday by pushing him out of
our state. Then we will
vote in his successor. That successor would be a
man who has distinguished
himself in the banking industry and is ready to
clean up Orji’s mess. His
name is Alex Otti.